Studia Patristica Supplements
1 primary work
Volume 6
The Human Factor: 'Deification' as Transformation in the Theology of Hilary of Poitiers
by James D. Sidaway
Published 14 December 2016
This study focuses on two significant but overlooked aspects of Hilary
of Poitiers' theology: his interpretation of how we 'become God' as
individuals, and the originality of his twelve volume De
trinitate in expressing it. Janet Sidaway argues that Hilary's ideas
had their origin in his baptismal confession of faith and Biblical
exegesis, but were then shaped by his response to the 'Arians' and to
Marcellus of Ancyra. She illustrates Hilary's emphasis on the
soteriological importance of the human nature of the incarnate Christ,
and on his brotherhood with us. He interpreted the Transfiguration to
reveal Christ's glory as a perfect human being, and suggested that
Christ remains in some sense corporeally human after the Ascension.
Because we share Christ's human body, we too may share this glory. Dr.
Sidaway proposes that, although Hilary's ideas were ignored by his
immediate successors, they are similar to the theology of the body
formulated by Dante in the Divine Comedy, and resonate with the
current concepts of Transformation Theology.
of Poitiers' theology: his interpretation of how we 'become God' as
individuals, and the originality of his twelve volume De
trinitate in expressing it. Janet Sidaway argues that Hilary's ideas
had their origin in his baptismal confession of faith and Biblical
exegesis, but were then shaped by his response to the 'Arians' and to
Marcellus of Ancyra. She illustrates Hilary's emphasis on the
soteriological importance of the human nature of the incarnate Christ,
and on his brotherhood with us. He interpreted the Transfiguration to
reveal Christ's glory as a perfect human being, and suggested that
Christ remains in some sense corporeally human after the Ascension.
Because we share Christ's human body, we too may share this glory. Dr.
Sidaway proposes that, although Hilary's ideas were ignored by his
immediate successors, they are similar to the theology of the body
formulated by Dante in the Divine Comedy, and resonate with the
current concepts of Transformation Theology.